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Seiji Ozawa, center, conducted at the Saito Kinen Festival in Japan on Sunday
MATSUMOTO, Japan — It was not exactly the return he had hoped for, but the conductor Seiji Ozawa scored a triumph of a limited sort here at the Saito Kinen Festival on Sunday afternoon as he returned to the public stage for the first time since surgery for esophageal cancer in January.
He opened a program of the festival orchestra (he was supposed to have led all of it), conducting the first movement of Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for Strings. Then, because he was experiencing sciatic problems that recurred as a byproduct of the surgery, he stepped aside to let a younger conductor, Tatsuya Shimono, take over.
When Mr. Ozawa took the stage, he was greeted as warmly as the politest of audiences could manage: no standing, no cheering, but loud, sustained applause. Half standing, half sitting, he delivered brief remarks from the stage, explaining his difficulties, apologizing for being unable to do more and promising to be back next year.
Complete on >> http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/05/seiji-ozawas-return-to-the-stage/?partner=rss&emc=rss
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